Marshall Canyon mountain bike ride (medium length)
Type
Cycle path, street & fire-road
Miles
8.92
Elevation Gain
1482’ per GPS
Starting/Max Elevation
1612’ / 2443’ per GPS
Starting Coordinates
34 08.340’ N, 117 42.421’ W
This is a variation of the short loop that includes the very pleasant Thompson Creek path. These directions take you clockwise around the loop, starting with the river trail which serves as a good warm up for the fire-road climb.
Getting there
From the 210 freeway in Claremont take the Baseline exit and head West on Baseline 0.7 miles to Mills Avenue. Go North (right) on Mills for 1.2 miles to the intersection with Mount Baldy Road. Continue straight and park either on the street or in the parking area on the right. Google directions to start
The Ride
From the parking area cross Mills to join the cycle/foot-path heading South West for 2 miles. The path ends at Towne Ave, where you turn left. Turn right onto Baseline for a very short distance before turning right onto Webb Canyon Road, at 2.38 miles. This is where the climbing starts but the gradient is easy and there is little traffic to be concerned with. A new gate (under construction at the time of writing) is passed at 3.24 miles.
At 3.47 miles (under the power lines) you turn right off the paved road onto the fire-road. The next 0.5 miles of climbing is the steepest of the ride, at a rate of ~670’ per mile. At 4.25 miles make a sharp left. Bear left at 4.67 miles, past a path on the right.
Burbank Canyon appears on your right at 5.32 miles. If you are tired of climbing this is a good point to start heading down, however for this trace we continue straight on the fire-road.
Stay right at 6.13 miles, and again at 6.5 miles. The junction at 7.1 miles provides an option for extending the ride by heading out to Potato Mountain via Palmer Canyon Road, but for this trace stay right and descend back to Mills Avenue. Note on weekends this section is very busy with hikers, so prudent speed control is recommended.
Ride log
Last Ridden
Condition
Pedal Time
Elapsed Time
Sept 20th, 08
Excellent - fire-roads recently graded but well packed